Manchester Man Arrested In Springfield Bar Brawl

City Police Officer Badly Hurt In Melee

Christopher Braun of School Street, Manchester, was among those arrested… (Springfield Police Department )

November 19, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — A Manchester man was among nine people arrested after a drunken bar brawl early Saturday in which a city police officer was badly hurt.

Christopher Braun, 33, of 127 School St. Manchester, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and affray, according to a news release. Braun was one of four suspects whom police identified as U.S. Marines.

The fight broke out at about 2 a.m. at Fat Cat's on Worthington Street. City police Officer Eleni Mendez was trying to break up a fight involving young women, police said, when she was punched in the back of the head.

Other brawlers joined in and started kicking and punching Mendez, police said. Mendez suffered a severe concussion and will be out of work for many days, police said.

Another officer on the scene, Officer Juan Estrada, also was attacked, police said. Unable to call for help, Mendez managed to punch a key on a portable device that a dispatcher recognized as a distress signal and more officers were sent to the scene.

Bar patrons fought with the arriving officers, but eventually, police were able to bring the scene under control and make the arrests. Three other police officers were hurt in the melee; one suffered a broken finger. The bar was referred to the city license commission for violations, police said.

All those charged were to appear in Springfield District Court Monday.